1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to systems and methods for performing a medical procedure, wherein the medical procedure includes the generation and transfer of energy from an energy source to a dynamically changing device and, more particularly, efficient transfer of energy through a microwave energy delivery, measurement and control system.
2. Description of Related Art
During microwave ablation procedures, the electrical performance of a microwave antenna probe changes throughout the course of an ablation treatment. The change in performance may be due to the device or due to changes in tissue properties. The ability to observe parameters indicative of changes in antenna property, antenna performance or tissue properties changes during ablation greatly aids in the understanding of microwave ablation.
For example, measuring antenna impedance is a common method for determining antenna performance and/or a change in an antenna property. Microwave systems are typically designed to a characteristic impedance, such as, for example, 50 Ohms, wherein the impedance of the generator, the delivery system, the ablation device and tissue are about equal to the characteristic impedance. Efficiency of energy delivery decreases when the impedance of any portion of the system changes.
With low frequency RF systems impedance can easily be determined by measuring the delivered current at a known voltage and calculating tissue impedance using well known algorithms. Obtaining accurate measurements of tissue impedance at microwave frequencies is more difficult because circuits behave differently at microwave frequency. For example, unlike an electrode in an RF system, an antenna in a microwave system does not conduct current to tissue. In addition, other components in a microwave system may transmit or radiate energy, like an antenna, or components may reflect energy back into the generator. As such, it is difficult to determine what percentage of the energy generated by the microwave generator is actually delivered to tissue, and conventional algorithms for tissue impedance are inaccurate.
Therefore, other methods of measuring impedance are typically used in a microwave system. One well known method is an indirect method using measurements of forward and reflected power. While this is a generally accepted method, this method can also prove to be inaccurate because the method fails to account for component losses and depends on indirect measurements, such as, for example forward and reflected power measurements from directional couplers, to calculate impedance. In addition, this method does not provide information related to phase, a component vital to determining antenna impedance.
One alternative method of measuring impedance in a microwave energy delivery system is by determining broadband scattering parameters. Capturing antenna broadband scattering parameters periodically throughout a high power ablation cycle necessitates the use of equipment that requires precise calibration. Unfortunately, this equipment is prone to damage by high power signals and the microwave energy delivery system typically needs to be reconfigured to accommodate and protect such equipment.
The present disclosure describes a Microwave Research Tool (MRT) that includes a system to measure impedance in a microwave energy delivery system by direct and indirect methods including a system to measure broadband scattering parameters.